Gladheart Farm

On Thursday, April 21 a young woman who goes by her given Hebrew name, Chanah guided us through vast green fields and past old rustic barns on the property of Gladheart Farm. The farm is located two miles away from downtown Asheville and is hidden away within a dead end road of a neighborhood.

“We are a group of people that live together, share all things in common, and try to live as closely as possible to the way human beings were meant to live,” said Chanah.

She said she had a full-time job in Florida and one day decided that she was not happy with her life. Chanah sold all of her stuff, including her car and made her journey to a different way of living on the farm in Asheville.

The property is 7.5 acres of land with approximately 40 people living there. There are separate living corridors for the different people living there. The young single woman share one large room while the young single men have their own room that is located in a yurt that they built. The families have their own rooms in the upstairs of the two large houses on the property.

On the farm there are chickens which are used for their eggs and for harvesting, alpine goats for their milk and for weeding the fields and a cow which is used for milk as well. The people who make up Gladheart work as a collective team to complete the necessary tasks to maintain a farm, even the children work on the farm as well.

“Everyday we spend an hour to ourselves before dinner to look back on our day and go over what happened,” said Chanah. “Sometimes you realize why you were acting angry and can work on your problems.”

Gladheart Farm allows people to come visit on Friday evenings to welcome the weekly Sabbath with songs, dancing, and a farm fresh meal. They are located at 9 Lora Lane.

Ruthie Keith

Ruthie Keith is a Mass Communication student at UNC Asheville. She is a native of Raleigh, NC. Ruthie has always had a love for taking photos and is just now getting to experiment with a nice Cannon Rebel camera. Asheville is a unique community to capture moments in and she is grateful to work with image Asheville to share her experience.

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